


Post-Blake Cally (meta)

by HermitLibrary_Archivist



Category: Blake's 7
Genre: Gen, Meta
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-05-28
Updated: 2008-05-28
Packaged: 2018-04-19 09:32:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4741400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HermitLibrary_Archivist/pseuds/HermitLibrary_Archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>By Jason Juneau</p>
            </blockquote>





	Post-Blake Cally (meta)

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Judith and Aralias, the archivists: This story was originally archived at [Hermit.org Blake's 7 Library](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Hermit_Library), which was closed due to maintenance costs and lack of time. To preserve the archive, we began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in August 2015. We posted announcements about the move and emailed authors as we imported, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this author, please contact us using the e-mail address on [Hermit.org Blake's 7 Library collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/hermitlibrary/profile). 
> 
> This work has been backdated to 26th of May 2008, which is the last date the Hermit.org archive was updated, not the date this fic was written. In some cases, fics can be dated more precisely by searching for the zine they were originally published in on [Fanlore](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Main_Page).

I like Cally. In fact I would say that she was the main reason I watched the show initially. In addition to the obvious sex appeal there was the sense of a person not at all right with herself. She seemed more complex than the other crew members, with the obvious exception of Avon. This view may come from the fact that I first watched Blake's 7 in its reveiled 3rd season. Cally's death in "Rescue" only intensified that fascination, and to see the origins of the character in "Time Squad" only showed me how much depth this show had.

Of course I read the comments of many who howled over the loss of Cally as warrior from the 1st to 3rd seasons, and I must confess my own dismay at seeing her walk around the liberator in an ankle-length dress. But I must say that I cannot understand people who think that Cally could only be a "companions for my death" fanatic and not undergo a major change as the series moved on. We saw change in all the characters, especially those that lasted on the seasons, especially Avon.

Lets remember one fact. When Cally died, her last thought was "Blake!". Blake and Cally were the only members of the Liberator who had previous careers as revolutionaries. Blake consulted with Cally on at least two occasions("Weapon", "Pressure Point")concerning plans he did not share with other members of the crew. Cally was a revolutionary more than a warrior. This means that not only was she committed, she also had a conscience. Hence when she questioned the wisdom of destroying Star One, she merely demonstrated the same quality we saw in Blake when he put out a plague warning("Killer") even if it meant sparing Servalan. Also her decision not to seek revenge for the genocide of her people("Children of Auron") might seem strange, but let us remember another who seemed to forgive beyond all reason - Blake. Blake had every reason to kill Travis and yet despite all the chances never did. Admittedly at times he justified his decision as the more cruel thing to do("Gambit"). Still revenge was never a part of his program. Blake was a true revolutionary in the manner of Lenin, in that he submitted all aspects of his being to achieving that goal.

I think that Cally had similar drive and conviction, but suffered from not being a natural leader. Also, as a telepath, Cally was much more attuned to the loss and suffering that occured on the Liberator. I think that things got to her more readily than the others. Lets face it, by the end of the 3rd season she was "running on empty". She lost her home planet and Blake. Also the destruction of Star One did not destroy the Federation. Under Servalan it did begin to grow back and was still as tyrannical as ever. Things had changed for the worse. Blake was gone, the Federation was still standing, Avon and Vila were not in for more freedom fighting, and Dayna and Tarrant were hardly the stuff of revolutionaries. The loss of Auron left Cally truly alone in the universe, and in spite of Avon's "Meaningful look" in Sarcophagus, I don't see the how he would have ever stopped being a thick-skinned, egotitical paranoid who prefers to walk alone in the valley of the shadow of death.

Cally was not a warrior in season three because the fighting had gotten her nowhere. Blake was gone; the Federation was not destroyed; her people was killed. Also ,not to be too harsh, but I would suggest that she was just as alone on the Liberator as she was on Saurion Major when Blake found her. On Saurion the only option left was death by suicide run; all the other fighters were dead and who would predict that another revolutionary would come along in a ship with teleport. In those circumstances, Cally's planned action seem exact. On the post-Blake Liberator she was with a mercenary, killer, thief, and psychopath and to her credit - Cally cared about all of them, especially Avon and Vila.

Cally's story is a sad one, but then this is Blake's 7, where evil triumphs in the end. Cally's demise for me points to the fact that the Federation above all, destroyed community in the future. Telepaths, it would seem, thrive on a sense of community and the twisted ideals and the treatment of people as things(e.g. Mutoids) created a sense of alienation and paranoia that afflicted even the Liberator crew. Notice that its the career criminals(Avon, Vila, Jenna) who survive to the end. I love Cally in all her incarnations, but think that her development in the 3rd season is reasonable, if not likable.


End file.
